Top Judiciary Republicans Demand Answers on DACA Changes

Top Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees are asking the Obama administration to explain changes made this summer to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that they say loosen requirements and invite fraud.

House Judiciary Chairman Robert W. Goodlatte of Virginia and Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Charles E. Grassley of Iowa sent Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson a list of 25 questions Friday on revisions to the 2012 executive order.

The lawmakers zeroed in on a change made to the DACA website’s “Frequently Asked Questions” page that states officials “may verify information” submitted on applicant documents — imprecise language, Grassley and Goodlatte contend, that does not require the government to actually verify anything.

“Since the initial announcement regarding DACA, we … have written several letters to your Department requesting data and general information about DACA,” Goodlatte and Grassley wrote to Johnson. “We have rarely received substantive responses. Congress is entitled to know how this administration is managing the program and to whom it is providing lawful status.”

“We understand that on a June 5, 2014, conference call with Congressional staff, a USCIS employee stated that, ‘generally the majority of documents we receive are valid.’ Please forgive us if that simple ‘assurance’ does not quell our concerns about the very real prevalence of fraud in immigration benefits application,” Goodlatte and Grassley continued.